I apologise in advance...

[midaro]

...but I really want to know.

My first posts about the loss last night were about the Swans being heartless. I know this is a sensitive issue and that the question is pretty tactless, but IYO which of these statements is factual:

A. We lost last night because our head trainer died, and the players knew and were devestated.

B. The death was coincidental and did not impact on the game.

Again I apologise, but its been alluded to numerous times in other posts. I mean a heartless display is acceptable, if you're heartbroken, right?

[swansrock4eva]

It was pretty clear the players knew what was happening - if many of the 24,000 spectators could pick it up from various points around the ground, how could the players not? Regardless of their "professional" status, I can't understand how anyone could have kept playing a decent game knowing someone as close to them as Wally would have been had passed away and they were desperately trying to save him only metres away. I know my "game" as a supporter slipped as soon as I realised there was an emergency - like many around me, the focus tunred to the bench not the field - the players would have been just the same. And watching Brad Seymour - during the game he was trying to run messages out, and kept checking on the situation as well, then at the end of the game he stood around for a few minutes then just stopped and sat with his head on his knees and later walked down to the rooms crying - it was heart-wrenching.

As a spectator I know how upset I was when I got home last night, and I know others on here are just as upset, so imagine how those at the club must be right now.

[ROK Lobster]

I'm new here so I do not really feel comfortable telling you all what I think, and thereby implying that this is what you should think too, but I'll spit it out anyway.

I think 2 things happened last night. The first and most important was that a man died. He was obviously an important part of the club and my thoughts are with his family, his friends, the players and the club. I also feel for you who witnessesed and hope that things improve for you over the next few days.

The other thing is that the Swans lost. We are now 8 on the ladder and in a dicey spot re the the finals. Given the other results yesterday and Fri, and the big lead at 3/4 time it is very disappointing but we will all get over it. We all love it - but it is only football.

I do not really see the point of trying to connect the two - is it really relevant??

RIP Wally.

[Bron]

The game was not lost in the first 10 minutes. We were still ahead. Goals were scored against us, but not enough for North to win at that point.

In the last 15 minutes, when people were fighting to save a man's life, that's where the focus was. That's when North scored the goals that put them ahead. That's when the game was lost.

The focus of people on the bench (runners, players, Club officials, e.g Andrew Ireland) was clearly distracted. Various players seemed obviously distracted to me. Forget the replay, that only shows what's happening around the ball. When we do well, we play as a coherent team. This was not the case at this stage.

Even when I try to pay attention to the bench during a game, I generally get distracted and don't see the interchanges. Yet last night, that was the main point of attention and I missed most of the last 15 minutes of the game. I couldn't maintain my attention and my cheering. Who can blame the players for doing the same ... even if they didn't know who was in trouble, it was clearly someone from the Club.

If this hadn't occurred, would we have lost? I don't know. Personally, I doubt it. The team often rallies under pressure and digs a bit deeper. That's what I believe would have happened. But, of course, we'll never know.

[sharpie]

I tend to agree with Bron. Yes, we had let them back into the game at that stage, but we do that every week, never really bury a side. However, we generally make a change to something on the field. Such a move should have been made on Daniel Harris, he was wreaking havoc, but nothing changed for the last 10 minutes of the game. For example, if Crouch or Mathews or Kirk had gone to him for a bit and shut him down, the Roos' may have stopped easily clearing the ball from ruck contests.

This makes me think that messages were just not being delivered to the players properly. It appears that Brad Seymour in particular was badly affected by the tragedy, and so he probably could not deliver Roos's instructions effectively.

[Damien]

I thought the Roos were great all night, they were simply inaccurate.

In the last quarter, everything came together for them and we were not good enough to stop them.

[OldE]

I have no doubt that the Swans knew what was going on. I went to the bathroom 10-15 minutes into the quarter, and when I came out, my friend told me that they were doing CPR on someone on the pitch. After that, I was totally distracted from the game, as one would rightly expect. I did, however, notice the players looking at the bench and watching what was going on when there were breaks in play. I may be mistaken, but I think that at one point I saw Goodsey look over, and he seemed visibly upset. (Granted, though, that may have related to the state of the game). I certainly noticed players looking at the bench with alarming frequency. If that were the case, how could they possibly perform well? Someone mentioned on an earlier post that they felt their performance as a fan was effected: I certainly experienced this distraction. Being merely a fan and not a player, I can't even begin to imagine what it takes to perform in those circumstances. If we were effected, how could they not be?

But, that being said, it really is not important. I felt awful when we lost, then felt even more awful for feeling awful, when one considers what was going on at the time. I've not ever posted here before, but this morning I really needed to discuss the night with someone, and this appeared to be the best option. My mind is reeling and I hardly know what to feel. And I'm just a silly fan who didn't know the person.

It must just dreadful for his family and friends. My deepest condolences to all of them.

My apologies for the self-centredness and lack of eloquence in this post,
Erin

[NMWBloods]

I think 6.1 to 1.0 in less than 15 minutes of football suggests that we lost the game.

The death may have had some impact, however it is not the reason we lost.

I think it is terrible to use it an excuse.

As for Harris, Maxfield was on him for a bit but didn't help.

Crouch went to Wells.

Mathews was on Grant.

Kirk was on Simpson.

The taggers were in place - the 'Roos simply lifted and finally kicked straighter.

There were Swans runners out on the ground - they were organising players to move into the back half.

I think it less likely most the players on the ground saw what was happening on the bench compared to some people in the crowd. When playing sport, the focus is on the field, not off it.

Our team doesn't always rally under pressure - Richmond, Adelaide, Fremantle, Geelong are games when we didn't.

BTW - all my comments have been based on the statements made of the time of his collapse. Naturally if it comes out that most of the players knew of the serious nature of things at the beginning of the last quarter I unreservedly withdraw any of my criticisms of their last quarter.

[Swansinger]

Re: I apologise in advance...

Originally posted by midaro
...but I really want to know.

My first posts about the loss last night were about the Swans being heartless. I know this is a sensitive issue and that the question is pretty tactless, but IYO which of these statements is factual:

A. We lost last night because our head trainer died, and the players knew and were devestated.

B. The death was coincidental and did not impact on the game.

Again I apologise, but its been alluded to numerous times in other posts. I mean a heartless display is acceptable, if you're heartbroken, right?

The answer is a qualified B - it may indeed have had an impact on our last 1/4 , BUT we were too casual well BEFORE Mr.Jackson's passing.

If the answer were A - then it could be asked why we managed to get any goals in the last quarter - which leads to churlish and tasteless arguments about the degree of devastation we felt.

We lost for the reason that most teams lose : we were not good enough.

Do you all know (yes , of course you do!) that "Cheer, Cheer the Red and the White" is based on "Notre Dame Victory March" from the film "Knute Rockne -All-American"?

Roos could do worse than hire the video to pick the boys up before next week .

http://home.no.net/birgerro/gippwin.htm

[swan_song]

Quote
Do you all know (yes , of course you do!) that "Cheer, Cheer the Red and the White" is based on "Notre Dame Victory March" from the film "Knute Rockne -All-American"?

________________________

Yes